Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Based on a true story, the action follows a group of bodybuilders (led by Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson) who engaged in a campaign of kidnapping, extortion and murder in Florida. The not so bright group kidnapped Miami businessman Marc Schiller, tortured him and left him for dead. He survived and to get even he hired hired a private investigator (Ed Harris) to track them down.

Paly would play Sabina Petrescu, an illegal immigrant and former beauty queen who dreams of becoming the next Marilyn Monroe. Shalhoub plays Marc Schiller, the target of the kidnapping scheme.

Ok---some folks online have said the theatrical trailer for the horror sequel Piranha 3Dd makes the film look really stupid...To that I ask Did ya see the first Piranha from 2010?!!!!

That's sorta the point of these films--They are supposed to be nothing more than what they are: Fun blood soaked--boob infused rides that don't take themselves seriously at all--even within the horror genre itself....As opposed to say Shark Night 3D which forgot to make its audience laugh once amid the mayhem

Given that--I think the 3Dd trailer works just great! Detractors need to lighten up---BIG TIME!!

John Gulager ("Feast") called action from Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton's screenplay that sees the killer fish make their way into 'The Big Wet Water Park' where carnage ensues and the water slides will run red with blood.

The 2nd theatrical trailer for The Avengers is here! And it is EPIC.....!!!

Freakin' AWESOME! I think I may have to be peeled off the celling.....

Meantime Empire reports that the movie has just received a title change in the UK to the slightly more complicated "Avengers Assemble".

The alteration was mmade to avoid audience confusion with The Avengers British TVseries of the 60's (and the horrid 1998 film adaptation). Such a change would not have been taken lightly and there has obviously been research indicating title confusion between the 2 franchises

Also a new poster for the film has already sparked a lot of debate among fanboys and film writers alike for the weird use of perspective that seems to have Captain America as four stories tall and The Hulk about seven stories tall. The British version of the one-sheet, with the new title, can be seen here.

An adaptation of the 1983 Mark Helprin novel of the same name, follows Peter Lake, an orphaned mechanic who tries to rob a palatial West Side mansion. There he meets a young dying girl who he becomes determined to save. A flying white horse also figures into the story which is set in both 19th Century and contemporary Manhattan.

Russell Crowe will play a gangster boss with Will Smith appearing as a judge. Both men have worked with Goldsman on films before.

The clip shows Guy Pearce as his character Peter Weyland addressing the conference's 2023 session. There's even a bio on the guy:

"Peter Weyland has been a magnet for controversy since he announced his intent to build the first convincingly humanoid robotic system by the end of the decade. Whether challenging the ethical boundaries of medicine with nanotechnology or going toe to toe with the Vatican itself on the issue of gene-therapy sterilization, Sir Peter prides himself on his motto, “If we can, we must.” After a three year media blackout, Weyland has finally emerged to reveal where he’s heading next. Wherever that may be, we will most certainly want to follow."

Pearce has previously said that his role in the film is a cameo, and this suggests his scenes take place nearly two centuries before the events in the film do. Certainly it's years before Weyland-Yutani became the big biz of the "Alien franchise

Damon Lindelof also talked about the experience writing the film and coming up with this spot. He worked with director Scott on the film script, which was originally written by Jon Spaihts.

Scott is said to have shot both an R rated and a PG-13 rated version of the script.

Based on the non-fiction book by Marcus Luttrell , which recounts a mission his Seal team undertook to kill a terrorist leader, although they were ambushed in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afganistan and struggled to stay alive--Lutrell was the only one to come out alive

Based upon author Robert Ludlum's novel, the story has the host of an investigative news show becoming convinced by a Central Intelligence Agency agent that the friends he has invited to a weekend getaway in the country are engaged in a KGB conspiracy that threatens national security.

Simon Kinberg and Jesse Wigutow penned the reboot pic that will leave the Cold Warand spy elements behind and will switch some of the occupations and the show host character will have a different job, and the CIA agent character will be a reporter who warns the man his friends aren't whom he thinks they are. The reporter then gets killed, pushing the man into a desperate fight to survive and learn whom he can trust and why he's being targeted.

Universal Pictures has now acquired that script and hopes it will be a potential franchise launcher for them.

The story deals with a secret government program to turn schizophrenics into assassins with our protagonist scoring the skill sets of a cowboy, a ninja and a viking. When the program went awry in Iraq, he escapes and uses his skills to track down the billionaire who masterminded the program.
Wernick, Reese, Guymon Casady, Ben Forkner, Mark Gordon and Bryan Zuriff will produce the pic.

Production kicks off later this year once Forster completes his work on the Brad Pitt-led "World War Z"

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

An adaptation of journalist Mike Finkel's memior in which Hill would play the NY Times Magazine writer who was fired from the publication for reportedly falsifying information. Around the same time Christian Longo (Franco), a killer on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, was captured in Mexico and claimed he'd been living under the identity of Finkel in order to evade capture. The real Finkel sees a chance at redemption when he learns he is the only journalist that Longo will talk to.

The film is an adaptation of the French comic "Le Transperceneige and is set in a future when an Ice Age has killed off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. A class system evolves on the train but a revolution bubbles up.

Travers' book was highly personal, and reflected hardships in her own life and her relationship with her father who died when she was seven. Disney finally persuaded her to let him make the film, though she was difficult to please all the way to the end.

Monday, February 27, 2012

The translation of an interview with Hungarian website Mozinezo (via AVP Galaxy) has director Ridley Scott's seemingly finally explaining how "Prometheus" and his 1979 classic "Alien" tie together. Until now all those who worked on the new film have downplayed any linkage as much as possible, despite evidence to the contrary...

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD...You Have Been Warned...

Scott: “When the first ‘Alien’ movie and ‘Blade Runner’ were made, I thought that in the near future the world will be owned by large companies. This is why we have the Tyrell Corporation in ‘Blade Runner’, and Weyland-Yutani in ‘Alien’. They sent the Nostromo spaceship.”

He adds “The Prometheus is owned by an entrepreneur called Peter Weyland, and is played by Guy Pearce. That’s the connection between the two films, and nothing more. ‘Prometheus’ is a new film, a new world, and is full of new ideas. And of course new monsters as well.”

Pearce has said before that his character has a very short cameo in the film.

Martin Scorsese's 3D family film Hugo and silent movie and award season darling The Artisttopped the night with five wins apiece. The Artist tookhome several of the top awards, including best picture, director and actor

I coulda seriously done without the whole Cirque du Soleil Routine As talented as they are--we should have been able to hear the 2 nominated songs including winner "Man Or Muppet" from The Muppets instead....And the talking heads discussing their faves--could have been eliminated really....

Sunday, February 26, 2012

The Navy SEALs showcase movie "Act Of Valor" came out on top this Academy Awards weekend and its success is a bit of surprise to me given that the film had only real life heroes to carry the story rather than those the industry uses to propel its action flicks.

Relativity Media's government-endorsed Act of Valor--featuring real-life Navy SEALs--easily won the weekend crown with a strong $24.7 million opening.

Act of Valor, produced by the Bandito Brothers, led another boom weekend at the domestic box office. Revenues were up more than 25 percent from the previous year, even with Sunday's Oscar telecast, which can take a bite out of theater traffic.

Among the best picture nominees still playing, frontrunner The Artist saw a bump on the eve of the Academy Awards, grossing $3 million for a domestic cume of $31.9 million. The pic has earned north of $45 million overseas.

Tyler Perry's romantic Good Deeds, from Lionsgate, opened at No. 2 with $16 million. Perry's movies often debut north of $20 million, but that's for the Madea series, which features the director-writer-actor playing Madea.

Good Deeds was up 25 percent from Friday to Saturday, the best increase of any film and indicating that older females are driving the pic (85 percent of those buying tickets were over the age of 25, while 76 percent were females).

Act of Valor and Good Deeds both earned A CinemaScores. In Act of Valor, Navy SEALs play fictionalized characters on a mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent. The acton pic, rated R, began its life as a Navy recruitment video but morphed into a feature.

The film's debut is a victory for Relativity, which acquired worldwide rights for $13 million from directors Scott Waugh and Mike "Mouse" McCoy, whose company Bandito Brothers produced the film for roughly $12 million. The deal also included a $30 million marketing commitment. Alliance is distributing the pic in Canada for Relativity.

Act of Valor, which won the praise of President Obama at a White House screening earlier this year, did especially well in the Southeast, Southwest and West, regions rife with military bases. Males fueled the pic, making up 71 percent of the audience.

Good Deeds was followed by a trio of stellar holdovers--Journey 2: The Mysterious Island ($13.5 million), Safe House ($11.4 million) and The Vow ($10 million). The Vow's estimated domestic cume through Sunday was $103 million, marking the first time a Screen Gems title has jumped the $100 million mark.

Wanderlust grossed an estimated $6.6 million after earning a B- CinemaScore. The comedy, costing north of $30 million to produce, reteams Role Models director David Wain with Rudd and is about an overstressed Manhattan couple who find a new way of life at a pastoral shared community.

Wanderlust skewed older, with 61 percent of those buying tickets over the age of 30. Females made up 57 percent of the auidence.

Gone, receiving only C+ CinemaScore, opened to $5 million. Summit is releasing Gone for Lakeshore Entertainment and Sidney Kimmel, and says it has a net risk of $2 million on the pic. Females drove the film, making up 64 percent of the audience. Moviegoers over the age of 18 made up 61 percent of those buying tickets.

At the specialty box office, the Metropolitan Opera's live HD transmission of Verdi's Ernani grossed $1.7 million from 850 theaters in the U.S. Overseas, 68,000 moviegoers saw the opera on 500 screens in 39 countries.

Saoirse Ronan has been cast as "Melanie Stryder, one of the last humans putting up a fight against an alien species called Souls. These parasites invade human bodies, fuse to each person's consciousness and systematically erase their personalities. Melanie is captured by the aliens and implanted by a Soul called Wanderer (who Saorise will also play), something of a legend because of all of the "hosts" she has attached to on numerous planets. Wanderer's goal is to get Melanie to give up the remaining pockets of humans, but instead the alien finds Melanie to be unique in her unwillingness to surrender her consciousness. Wanderer is so overwhelmed by Melanie's memories and feelings, the alien is driven to reconnect with Melanie's old life."

Fisher is playing the role of Maggie--a stern aunt to Melanie and sister to Uncle Jeb.

Max Irons has won the male lead role of Jared, Melanie's boyfriend. While Jake Abel is playing the role of Ian, who brutalizes Wanderer before falling in love with her. William Hurt will play the pivotal role of Jeb, an eccentric uncle to Ronan’s Melanie. He is one of the grizzled leaders of the human survivalists fighting the alien invasion. Diane Kruger will play The Seeker, who is charged with overseeing the conversion of Melanie and later pursues her.

The story is based on a spec script by Brad Ingelsby and centers on Slim (Bale), an Indiana native who has just been freed from prison in 1986. Although he initially has plans to marry his girlfriend, Slim's brother is soon found to be murdered after falling in with a dangerous gambling racket. This eventually leads to Slim's quest for revenge.

He's not a Klingon Romulan or Vulcan--but rather seemingly a human Starfleet officer--of which there are several possibilities of officers who went bad during the original series causing problems for the Enterprise crew...

The one guess that came to mind as soon as I saw the top photo is Captain Garth as seen in 1969's Whom Gods Destroy played in the episode by Steve Ihnat--In the ep Kirk and Spock are taken prisoners by Garth, who now spends his days at, and has taken over, a high security asylum for the criminally insane. Kirk admired Garth during his academy days (which were all but ignored in Trek '09)

Just speculation on my part but Garth who also learned the art of shape shifting seems to me to make the most sense for now....